7 Day Alaska Cruise with Carnival – Part II

by Angie McGowan on August 28, 2017

I shared last week the first part of our Alaska cruise adventure with Carnival. We saw so much there and learned so much too! The first highlight of our cruise was cruising through Tracy Arm Fjord aboard the Carnival Legend.

The next day we ported in Skagway and took a Steam Train up through the mountains. My son was so excited!

It was the Fraser Meadows Steam Excursion. It’s a 54 mile round trip that climbs from right in front of the Carnival ship past the White Pass Summit to Fraser Meadows. It passes through Canada too before turing around and coming back to Skagway.

The ride is fully narrated and passes through some of the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen. And the best part of the adventure for kids and adults alike is you’re being pulled by a historic steam locomotive!

The ride is 4 hours, but there’s never a dull moment. There’s so much to see.

The scenery is amazing! You’ll pass through 2 tunnels. Here’s one of them.

Make sure to sit on the left side of the car 🙂 Better views. You’ll see the same sites on the right, but on the way back down to Skagway, and they’re not narrating at that time.

A few hours in you get to the tundra, and it’s gorgeous!

The trees here are very small but because the growing season is so short, they are actually very, very old.

The next day we ported in Juneau. I was so excited because I planned a seaplane adventure to see 5 glaciers this day. This would be the first time that any of us had been on a seaplene!

Seeing the glaciers by air definitely puts things in perspective. It’s a must see in Juneau for sure!

The deep blue of the glacier ice is astonishing.

I never really understood that a glacier is old compacted snow that runs down the mountain, picking up soil as it moves down to the water and then enriching that water with the nutrients form the soil.

Seeing their paths from an arial view really brought so much more understanding of the environment.

So much beauty!

The third day we ported in Ketchikan.

And we took a smaller boat to visit Misty Fjords in the Tongass National Forest.

It was a long ride but worth it because on this little island we saw a bunch of seals with our binoculars. There was so much wildlife to see as we scanned the tree lines.

We saw more bold eagles than I’ve seen in my whole life!

And the beauty of Misty Fjords was incredible! Trees seem to just grow out of the rock face. And the water was that beautiful shade of green.

And of course, it was misty!

We also saw more salmon jumping out of the water than I ever thought I’d see in a lifetime.

This was a pretty waterfall in the fjord. It was just the most beautiful place!

The last day we docked in Victoria, British Columbia for a short time before heading back to Seattle. We took a short stroll around the town and enjoyed the beautiful scenery before dusk fell.

The architecture was so amazing!

I loved the downtown area too. There were more flowers there than I ever expected.

And what about this orca shrubbery!

After walking the downtown area, getting some authentic Canadian Maple syrup and a few more shriners we were back on the ship!

Disclaimer: Carnival provided complementary cruise tickets, but all extra fees, gratuities and excursions were paid for by me. All thoughts and opinions 100% my own.

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